Social media influencer and gin magnate Ryan Reynolds will step in front of the camera again next week.
The Vancouver-born movie star is back in his hometown to star in the Netflix feature The Adam Project, a time-travel movie directed by Shawn Levy.
Reynolds plays a man who must travel back in time to get help from his 13-year-old self.
Production starts on Monday and according to industry sources, most of the The Adam Project will be filmed on the PNE Grounds, with sets being built both inside the fair pavilions.
PNE management has not confirmed this, but the movie’s production office is listed as 100 Renfrew Street, which is also the address for Pacific Coliseum.
Levy, an executive producer on Stranger Things, also helmed Reynolds’ upcoming comedy Free Guy which will feature late Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek in a cameo role.
Trebek, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in March 2019, died Sunday at his home in California. He was 80 years old.
“Alex Trebek was kind enough to film a cameo for our film Free Guy last year despite his battle,” Reynolds tweeted. “He was gracious and funny. In addition to being curious, stalwart, generous, reassuring and of course, Canadian. We love you, Alex. And always will.
ALI STARS IN SWAN SONG
Shooting on Swan Song, an AppleTV+ feature starring two-time Academy Award-winning actor Mahershala Ali, got underway this week in Vancouver under the the production title Ellington.
The film’s plot has mostly been kept under wraps, but Apple promises it will be “a genre-bending drama” set in the near future.
Naomie Harris, who starred opposite Ali in the 2016 Oscar winner Moonlight, is also part of the cast.
The feature is being directed by Benjamin Cleary, whose 2016 short film Stutterer earned him an Academy Award for best live action short film. Cleary also wrote the screenplay.
“I’ve been developing Swan Song for a while and when I sat down with Apple it was immediately clear they completely understood my vision,” Cleary said in a release. “Once Mahershala agreed to join us I knew we had something really special.”
Following Swan Song, which is scheduled to wrap on Jan. 29, Ali is set to star in the Marvel Cinematic Universe reboot of Blade. He’ll assume the role of the titular vampire killer first brought to the screen by Wesley Snipes.
GUNN BRINGS CENA TO VANCOUVER
Speaking of the comic book movies, James Gunn, the auteur behind the MCU’s Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, is in Vancouver to work on the new HBO Max/DC Comics series Peacemaker.
The series will serve as a spinoff to the upcoming DC movie The Suicide Squad, in which wrestler-turned-actor John Cena co-stars as the peace-loving, super soldier Peacemaker.
Cena was in Vancouver last year when he filmed the firefighter comedy Playing With Fire, which is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.
Gunn said on Instagram Monday that he had just arrived in Vancouver and was beginning his two-week quarantine before pre-production commences.
According to the Directors Guild of Canada production list, Peacemaker, which is filming under the production title The Scriptures, will begin filming Jan. 18.